On to the Next Stage
by SaySaeri
Summary: AU that's sort of like Disgaea. Having spent 10 years in a peaceful village having amnesia bliss from his dark past with Misaki and Shinobu by his side, Ritsu finds himself apart of another situation as trouble stirs up in other kingdoms. And then of course, someone lands on and destroys his carrot field and apparently it's his lover? All pairings. OC's and JR are present.
1. Tutorial and 1st Battle

**I don't own Junjou Romantica and Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. This story leans more on the Sekaiichi side, so I'll put it in that category.**

**I... I am really bored due to my writer's block on other stories, and watching my brother play Disgaea gave me this plot bunny distraction.**

**There is a gameplay mixture added to this, and I did that for fun.**

**If any of you guys know what Disgaea is, yay for you!**

* * *

In this world, many creatures and people from all kinds are gathered.

Whether its magicians, warriors, angels, demons, vampires, mermaid-hybrids, humans, just mermaids, wolf-hybrids, wolf-shapeshifters, dogs, cats... you can probably find them here.

Most townsfolk are hybrids, with their cute animal ears...

*Ahem* But that is not the point of this story.

This story is about the adventure of our main characters, kind of.

Now, let's begin!

* * *

**Chapter 1. Game Tutorial and Introduction**

"Misaki?"

"..." Chocolate brown bear ears twitched at the sound of his mentor's voice. Getting up from his laid back position on the garden grounds of his and his mentor's mansion, he looked around to see said person walking towards him.

"What is it, Ritsu?" He stood up as he asked that, brushing off stray pieces of grass of his Healer's clothing, which was colored a dark green, had a golden line pattern, and an underneath white gown scheme and made him look like a mix between a shrine guardian and a traveling sorcerer. The hood attached was dark green and had a golden line as well.

"Before we head out to Fugisashi Forest to find whoever is tainting the river, we are going to practice battling. I already gathered some others for this, so let's go." Ritsu's garb was similar as well, but a lighter Spring green. His hood was altered a bit bigger so his rabbit ears can get under it well.

"Okay..."

* * *

BATTLE START!

"Remember Misaki," Ritsu began, pointing the cursor to their HP meters, "Make sure you don't go to zero. Same thing goes for your SP. Even if we had done this many times already, always make sure to remember."

"Got it."

"Okay, now le-"

"Isn't this pointless though?"

"What?"

"They can't see what we're doing. Can't we just skip this?"

"They? I don't ge- Oh. I get it now. Hmm... Okay."

TUTORIAL OVER!

"I'm sorry that was a waste of time, everyone!" Ritsu called out to those that were going to help them battle.

"It's fine!" Everyone yelled out.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the depths Fugisashi Forest, a forest that was very green and lush...

"Why am I doing this again?" asked Chiaki, using his large brush to drag ink into the river, feeling conflicted as he loved the water as any mermaid mage, but if he didn't do this their leader was going to do something weird to them.

"Lord Ryuuichirou said so," said Yoshiyuki, normally known as Tori, or Hatori.

"But... I need to go back to drawing..."

"As soon as someone stops us, you can."

"Okay..." he paused and looked up at Yoshiyuki, "Wait, what are you doing here? He only sent me."

Yoshiyuki turned away from him to look out into the forest away from the river, his wolf ears twitching.

"As if I can leave you alone."

* * *

**While looking through the Party Info:**

**(Lvl. 180) Misaki: **A mage and novice healer under Ritsu. A bear hybrid that is more like a teddy bear than an actual one, he can't really intimidate anyone. Other than healing magic and being a mage, he also specializes in other types of elements, like Wind. He can also cook and smell very well; pick-up ability is fairly high, so is his distraction rate.

**(Lvl. 250) Ritsu: **A healer and archer, he is the official healer of Junta Village. A rabbit hybrid with sensitive hearing, he also has a high dodge rate from physical and aerial attacks. To make up for his only healing magic mastery his aim in archery is fantastically amazing. His rate of countering attacks is fairly high.

* * *

"It doesn't look like there's anything out of the ordinary..." Ritsu said as Misaki and him strolled through the forest.

Misaki's ears twitched as he sniffed the air. "I don't smell anything weird either."

"!" Ritsu turned swiftly upon hearing something thrown towards them, and pushed Misaki against a nearby tree.

Seeing the thing thrown at them a familiar weapon, Misaki walked away from the tree and looked around. "Shinobu?"

The familiar ninja popped out from the side... of somewhere. "Sorry, thought you were an ink monster."

"Gah! Don't scare me like that!" screamed Misaki, while Ritsu approached the young ninja. "Ink monster?"

"Yeah," said Shinobu, "They're straying away from the direction of the river, so I went around destroying some of them, but it kept dirtying the greenery and I know how antsy you guys get about preserving nature, so know I'm just chasing them around seeing if they'll go flocking back to their creator."

"I see," said Ritsu, "Well, thank you for thinking of us."

Misaki faced Shinobu, "Why don't you join us? It'll be great if you did!"

"I don't know..."

[SHINOBU HAS JOINED THE PARTY!]

"What?! I didn't even give an answer yet!"

His info:

**(Lvl. 180) Shinobu:** A ninja formally from the Takatsuki Clan, he has been making a living at mailing letters, taking care of animals, being a guard, and other jobs; the village ninja since he was 8. He can't cook well, but is good at starting fires. Some of his moves involve fire as well, so he tries to be careful... most of the time.

* * *

"The river goes up further here..."

"!" Chiaki looked up upon hearing the voice, and looked around to see that Yoshiyuki was no longer with him. "T-tori?!"

Appearing into the clearing, Ritsu rushed at Chiaki. "You! Do you know how many people are getting sick because of this?! Do-"

Before he can further rant, Chiaki put his hands up in surrender and dropped his brush. "I.. I'm sorry! Lord Ryuuichirou said to, and I don't really have any other choice but to do this! I love water- please don't hurt me!"

"Lord Ryuuichirou...?"

Shinobu came forward. "Isn't he that Overlord who's head of the Marukawa Corporation?"

Misaki looked questionably at him. "Marukawa Corporation?"

"It's this corporation that focuses on publishing and distributing all kinds of media," answered Shinobu.

Chiaki nodded. "Yeah, I work for him. I really don't know why, but he's been asking us to do things like this lately."

A cold voice then rang through the clearing. "Chiaki."

"Eep!" Chiaki immediately went to hide behind Ritsu, who looked around for the source of the voice. His reddish-brown floppy ears moved in concentration.

They watched as Yoshiyuki came out of the clearing. "Chiaki, why are you fraternizing with the enemy?"

"T-They're not doing anything wrong! We are! We don't even know why we're doing this in the first place!"

"..."

"Y-you..." Chiaki clung closer to Ritsu, taking Yoshiyuki's silence as a 'I do know', "You know, don't you, Tori?"

Yoshiyuki glanced for a fraction of a second at Ritsu before going back to Chiaki, feeling a disturbing yet familiar sensation coming into his senses. "It is none of your concern."

"Then I'm quitting then! I don't want to do bad things like this anymore! Also, you said I could stop when someone stops me!"

[CHIAKI HAS JOINED THE PARTY!]

"Wow, I really did?!" Chiaki said excitedly.

Shinobu sighed. "We really need to get that checked."

Misaki shook his head. "We don't have enough to pay for that."

Chiaki's info:

**(Lvl. 290) Chiaki:** A mermaid mage, he can control anything that is a fluid, including ink. He is an artist, and can bring them to life with ink. He keeps most of his art inside books and uses scrolls to destroy/erase them if needed. His physical defense is pretty low, but his magic immunity is high. When in mermaid form, he can fully use Water element attacks.

* * *

"What will you do now?" Ritsu asked Yoshiyuki.

"..." He simply stared at them, and then ink monsters in the shape of wolves walked up behind him.

Everyone but Yoshiyuki: "!" And they went into battle position.

BATTLE START!

"Wow," said Ritsu, "This is our first battle since a while ago. Chiaki, you know how to fight right?"

"I think so..." Chiaki moved the cursor to the base panel, "We all start here, right?"

"Yes, now..." Ritsu moved the cursor over some of the ink wolves. "They're only level 50, so they're pretty easy..."

"But our main goal is to defeat that guy, right?" asked Misaki.

"Yes," said Ritsu, "Shinobu, you can begin first."

"Right!" Shinobu moved from the base panel to two ink wolves and quickly wide slashed them; the move obviously called Wide Slash.

After this, Chiaki moved forward and magically brought out an unrolled huge scroll and hit it against three ink wolves, trapping and destroying them as the scroll exploded upon rolling back up; Scroll Binder.

"This is the first time we're being separated from each other since we met when we were kids... now you're against me..." Yoshiyuki said to Chiaki, not attacking at all.

"!" Shinobu looked at him upon hearing that sentence, also taking note of the man's wolf ears.

"O-only because you-I-we were doing something bad, and I don't want to do it anymore!"

"Then you're going with them then and defeating Lord Ryuuichirou?"

Ritsu stepped towards them, "Why does he want you to do this? You're making so many people and animals sick..."

"You tell me, healer," Yoshiyuki said, identifying him by his clothing, "What reason would an Overlord suddenly disrupt nature, specifically in this region?"

"!" Ritsu, Misaki, and Shinobu staggered a bit in shock as they knew the reason, the only possible reason for an Overlord to start this in their region.

"No way..." said Shinobu, "That..."

"What?" asked Chiaki looking between them, "What is it?"

"This isn't the only place either," continued Yoshiyuki, "Lord Ryuuichirou sent the others to every peaceful area in this region, causing fires, blocking water ways, raiding towns..."

"But why?!" shouted Misaki, "Why go through all that trouble to open the doors to go to the Kingdom of the Sky?!"

"It's easier just to get permission from Central," added Shinobu, "Unless you guys got turned down or something?"

Suddenly, Ritsu grabbed his head and bent down in pain. "Aarrghh.." They all watched as a seal was summoned in front of Ritsu for a moment before he fainted.

"!" Misaki immediately went to Ritsu's side, before facing and glaring Yoshiyuki, using his staff to summon a whirlwind.

Minutes later, Yoshiyuki put his arm down when the wind died down, and looked to see that he was the only one there, the ink creatures having been destroyed, and Chiaki gone with the enemies.

* * *

**Whoa...! So dramatic! **

**Ha...! Not.**


	2. No Fighting Zone at Work

**Hiya! **

**I don't own Junjou Romantica and Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, or any familiar references, if I am unaware of it.**

* * *

"What happened to him?" asked Chiaki as Shinobu set him on the couch while Misaki went to go make tea. The whirlwind was an emergency measure for Misaki, taking them to their house so Ritsu can recover.

"Well... since you're our teammate now..." Shinobu began.

"We can trust you enough to tell you." finished Misaki, coming to sit down with them. "When I was 9 and it was Winter, I was playing around near the edge of town when I found Ritsu lying in the snow. He had a lost a lot of blood."

"What happened?!" asked Chiaki.

"We didn't know then, but we later found out he had strained himself using a lot of magic. I took him to the mayor's house- the village didn't have a healer then. My brother got a job in a faraway town to be their mayor, so he left with his girlfriend; I didn't want to go so the mayor had taken me in. Ritsu woke up by then we I brought him in, and all he could remember was his name."

Shinobu added more. "When he ever tried to remember more, it would hurt his head and that seal would appear. Then he would faint. After that kept happening, we told him he didn't have to try anymore cause we didn't want him to feel anymore pain."

Misaki spoke again. "Then he found out that he could use healing magic, so after some training with our town's mage he was asked to work for the village and he agreed in gratitude for us taking him in. I found out I could heal too along with my other magic, so I decided to train under him; the village men repaired this abandoned mansion for us and we have been living here for some time now."

"How long has it been since you found him?" asked Chiaki, looking at Ritsu.

"Hmm... I think 10 years. He trained pretty hard since then; he's really good at archery too."

"Too good," muttered Shinobu. "He actually scared me once when I was sneaking up on him in the forest one day, and he immediately heard me and shot straight at me. I was happy I learned Substitution."

"Oh yeah," Chiaki said, going over to touch Ritsu's ears, "He's a rabbit hybrid, right?"

"Yep!" chirped Misaki, "And I'm a bear hybrid!"

"Man," Chiaki smiled, having fun feeling Ritsu's ears, "It's so floppy and cute!"

"I know, right?" said Shinobu, having felt those ears for fun when he was a kid, along with playing with Misaki's ears.

Misaki looked curiously at Chiaki. "You're a mermaid, right?"

"Yeah. And a mag- What are you doing?" Chiaki asked, seeing Shinobu hold up his cup of tea.

"So if I pour this on you, will you-"

"No! No," Chiaki said, panicking, "M-my... my whole body has to be in water."

"Okay, okay," said Shinobu, smirking at him, "I'll believe that for now."

Misaki then remembered Yoshiyuki. "What about that other guy?"

"Oh, Tori? He's a wolf hybrid." At this, Shinobu looked at him warily. "We met when we were kids, and he always made sure to visit me since I couldn't really leave the water back then."

"Hey, by any chance," began Shinobu, "Are you his mate?"

"...Wh-what?!" Chiaki blushed. "W-we're both guys!"

"So? Anyway, anybody who is wolf or part-whatever wolf, they mate for life."

"And wh-why are you t-telling me this?" Chiaki asked, while Misaki tended to Ritsu, who seemed to be waking up.

"Cause," Shinobu said slowly, "If a wolf is separated from their mate for too long, it sucks."

"It... sucks?"

"Yes. For you. For him. For everyone."

"Why?!"

"Because all he'll think about is you. He'll probably count the hours he is apart from you. He'll most likely begin to hate us and want to kill us because we're with you and he's not. Did he mark you?"

"Mark me...? I.. I don't think so."

"That should be a little okay then, but for safety, lock your windows tonight since you'll be staying here."

"Wait! Wait! How are you sure he even sees me that way?!"

"Think about your life until this point. What is it like when you get into eye contact with him?"

"..."

"..." Shinobu watched as the man slowly began to blush his way to red. "So, I'm guessing I was right?"

"Maybe..." Chiaki looked around. "But why do I have to lock my windows?"

"Do you want him to take you back to the Ryuuichirou guy?"

"No..."

"Then lock your windows."

"How do you know about this anyways?" asked Chiaki as Ritsu slowly woke up and blinked open his eyes once or twice.

"Cause I know one."

"Oh, yeah," said Misaki, "Nowaki?"

"Nowaki?" repeated Chiaki.

"He's this one guy that was traveling around learning different healing techniques; we became friends with him before he left to go back home to his mate," said Shinobu, looking at Chiaki, "Another man named Hiroki."

"S-seriously?!"

* * *

Meanwhile and later... In the building of the Marukawa Corporation.

"So..." Ryuuichirou drawled out from the head of the table in their conference room, "This healer and his little group, including Chiaki, is out to stop us?"

"Yes," replied Yoshiyuki, adjusting his tie a little, "And they know what you want to do; they seemed rather disturbed... the healer didn't take so well either; before he fainted he clutched his head and this seal appeared..." he drew on a piece of paper and presented it to everyone at the table, "Do any of you guys know what type of seal this is?"

"It reminds me of that war 10 years ago," said wolf hybrid Takafumi, "The Sky people only aimed towards everyone involved with the assassination of their King, so they put protective seals on those that were in the way, but were innocent."

"They did it on many people, and it wasn't just them putting it on us," added bear hybrid Zen, who was sitting a little too close next to Takafumi, who leaned away a bit, "A young man I ran into while carrying my daughter when she was a baby put one on me and her, but he was one of those rabbit hybrids; it was rare considering any kind of rabbit would immediately hide in their areas during war."

"Only the Sky people should know that magic," argued Takafumi.

"What if they made friends?" offered Shouta, looking at the drawing, "They were here a while enough to make friends with some of us."

"Wait, wait," interjected Ryuuichirou, "We're drifting off topic. Okay, the seal is a sort of protection of the Sky people. We have identified that. Now, that healer..." he looked to Yoshiyuki, "When did the seal begin to appear again?"

"After the kingdom was mentioned by one of his subordinates."

"Hmm," Ryuuichirou paused a bit, "Whenever Sky was mentioned, his mind reacted- no, his memories. They probably began resurfacing, but the seal won't let it. And the seal protects...but there is no way someone else can do that to another with full knowledge of their memories, so..." he looked at Zen, "Do you remember what that boy looked like?"

Zen frowned a bit. "Well, it was dark and hectic that day... he was a young teenager though, and now he probably would be a bit younger than Takafumi and Masamune. And well, he was also a rabbit hybrid-wait," Zen began to remember more, "When I was running a way for safety and ran into him, someone was with him."

"Someone?"

"I don't know, but they were wearing a cloak; they were shorter than him and they went the opposite direction I went after he put a seal on us. Also, he didn't seem scared, just rushed. I think his hair was parted in the middle, and his ears were more on the floppy side instead of up."

"Is that it?"

"Well, it was dark and in a frenzy I wondered how ever even remembered that at all."

"Okay then," accepted Ryuuichirou, "Hatori, what did your healer look like?"

"His hair had a little red with brown I suppose," he thought back to the encounter, "His ears were floppy like what Zen had mentioned, but that could be coincidence; he had green eyes, and they were lighter compared to one of his subordinates. And one more thing," he looked at Takafumi, "You know that feeling for us when we feel the presence of someone's mate?"

"Oh, is he a mate of someone?"

"I'm not sure, but I felt something; it was a bit faint, but whoever it was they marked very possessively."

"Rabbits don't really approach us wolves," said Takafumi, "Are you sure?"

"I was a bit surprised myself, but I'm sure that healer was marked."

"I only know one guy who marked a rabbit hybrid, and he..." Takafumi trailed off, and looked to his other side to Masamune, "Do you have anything to say? You've said nothing so far."

Masamune merely ignored him, and just stared at the pattern he was making with his fingers on the table.

"Come on Masamune," nudged Takafumi, "You're a wolf hybrid too, do you have anything to add?"

"About what?" asked Masamune, still staring at his pattern, "I've been ignoring everything ever since I sat down; I have no idea what the hell you guys are even talking about."

"Do you know any of us who ever mated with a rabbit hybrid?"

"..." He stopped his fingers and continued staring at the table. "What about it?"

Takafumi sighed. "He encountered a healer and his group which Chiaki left to join. Hatori found that the healer had faint, but possessive marks from someone like us."

"And wha-"

Suddenly the corner of the room began to glow, meaning a dimensional gate was being opened. Chiaki hesitantly popped out, and yelped when he saw all of them. "Um.. hi guys. Just getting my things."

"Oh, is that so?" growled Yoshiyuki.

"Y-Yes! I did quit after all... I'll be out very quickly."

Takafumi looked Chiaki up and down. "Where's your other clothes?"

"Oh, they wanted to wash it, so they swapped it and Misaki told me to wear Ritsu's clothes." Seeing some confusion, Chiaki added, "Ritsu's the healer, and Misaki is kind of the apprentice."

"Makes better sense," mumbled Takafumi, who looked to see Masamune for some reason looked with narrowed eyes at Chiaki.

"So," said Shouta, "You having fun with your new group?"

"Yeah! Misaki's going to teach me how to cook later."

"Thank you," whispered Yoshiyuki, somewhat grateful to the younger boy from afar.

"How'd you get a gate opened like this?" asked Zen.

"Ritsu did it for me when he realized I didn't have anything with me."

Seeing the way Masamune was looking at Chiaki, Takafumi thought of something. "So, you're wearing Ritsu's clothes? What's he like?"

Shouta couldn't help but laugh a bit to himself. "Why are we so casual?"

"Hey, if we fight in here, Kaoru's going to destroy our asses," said Ryuuichirou, "So this is a no fight zone; it's a good thing he's out with Kanade at that restaurant joint to get us dinner."

Chiaki stopped to listen for a while before answering Takafumi carefully, "Ritsu's really nice, but he's really angry at Ryuuichirou..."

Zen nodded. "Understandable."

"He's about my height, and his ears are really cute; but one thing that annoys Ritsu about it is that under his right ear there's this weird mark that makes that ear twitch once in a while. He tries to ignore it, but we all can't help but point out how cute it is."

"A weird mark?" asked Takafumi, watching as Masamune seemed to be absorbed with what Chiaki was talking about.

"It wasn't a knife mark or a rip, so I think something bit him..." Putting the last of his stuff in his complementary cardboard box, he went back into the gate. "Anyway, thanks guys! I hope we stop you and be friends with you again!"

"Bye-bye!" waved Shouta, "I hope you guys stop us too so we can get back to actual work! Remember, I'm a cat hybrid that's a Fire mage!"

"Good luck," said Zen to Chiaki, "Takafumi and I will go easy on you!"

"What?!" exclaimed Takafumi, "You and me are being sent to different places; and I'm with Shouta!"

"No, Shouta let me trade with him."

Takafumi glared at the young looking older man who thumbs upped at him and mouthed 'Good luck'. "You..."

* * *

As Chiaki came out he found himself hugged by Shinobu. "Oh man, I thought we'd never see you again!"

"What? Why?" asked Chiaki.

"Well, your guy seems like that serious no-nonsense type of guy, so I thought he'd just take you in one sweep."

"No, it was a no fight zone."

"I didn't exactly mean that," Shinobu said before shrugging, "But okay."

* * *

**For some reason, I'm having fun with this. XD**


	3. A Reason to Cry

**Here's chapter 3! **

**Warning: Language.**

**I don't own Sekaiichi and Junjou Romantica.**

**Whoever plays any of the Disgaea games (I don't own), which one is your favorite? **Cause mine is... Well, I like all of them for different elements... XD I just love them, their humor, and their references. Flonne is so cute, Adell and Rozalin are adorable, and Valvatorez is just so awesome and it's fun saying Fenfen and shipping Valzy and Artina with the girls and Emizel. And Mao's a maniac among the newlyweds. xP It's also one of the few games where I love both the Jap. and Eng. voices.

I think overall though, it's a tie between 2 and 4.

*Ahem* Back to the story!

**The game element pops in and out once in a while... depending if they actually end up battling or not...**

**For the most part though, I try to imagine this as a scene in a game, if this was a game.**

**Thoughts will be in (parenthesis). **

* * *

In the Marukawa Corporation's Men's Bathroom, two men were having a moment.

No, not that type of moment-

Get your head out of that prominent brow-line.

Masamune watched as Takafumi continuously bashed his head against the wall next to the hand-dryer. "I can't... This is... bad..." The man muttered out as his head hit the wall that refused to be dented.

Masamune crossed his arms and tried to calm his friend. "It's not that bad-"

"Not that bad?!" yelled back Takafumi, stopping his bashing and facing him, "I always avoided eye contact with him knowing that would happen!"

"And it happened," deadpanned Masamune. "A few minutes ago."

"And hell it did! Anyway," he ran his head through his hair, "I can't be near him anymore."

"Why?" asked Masamune.

"I wouldn't be able to control myself."

"But we have to meet for Isaka's thing-"

Takafumi waved it off. "That's just for Isaka's weird plans- you've been out of it the whole time the plan has been discussed, so you don't have to go along with it. Just go back to working like you always have."

"?" Masamune was confused. "Then why are _you_ apart of it?"

"..." Takafumi turned away from him.

"What?"

"That healer- Ritsu... He the one you're looking for, isn't it? Your reactions when Chiaki came wearing his clothes, you recognized his scent immediately."

"...No."

Takafumi turned back to him in confusion. "What? But, the scent, and Chiaki's descriptions; you reacted to it so I thought..."

"It can't be my Ritsu; Ritsu... he promised that he'd always be right back, no matter what."

"And you've been waiting 10 years, Masamune! ...Remember that war that was also 10 years ago? About the time when you lost him? You told me your Ritsu was always healing anyone he met in need of help; and the person Zen met who protected him when he was running with Hiyo..."

"And now," he continued, "That healer Hatori met; when the seal appeared on him once the kingdom was mentioned and he go knocked out because-" He looked seriously at Masamune, "What if he got hurt and developed amnesia?"

"Am...nesia?" Masamune repeated slowly. The word felt foreign to him, but he was well aware of what that word meant.

"Yes, amnesia. You say he never broke a promise? Well, he can't break it if he can't remember that he made one in the first place, right?"

"..."

"Isaka wants to continue as planned: Cause trouble in anywhere peaceful. He also said he was going off to visit some oracle to find out a better way to get those doors opened. Central just denied his request the second he entered it, so he's also doing this to piss them off."

"...Minutes ago, when I asked you why you're still apart of it..."

Takafumi walked to leave the bathroom. "If it is what Hatori says, then your mate is against this company. While Isaka wants to cause trouble, _I'm_ going to see if there's a better way to solve all this- and I think Ritsu might know if he remembers."

"So what? You're going both ways?"

"No, not both ways. I'm not with Isaka, but I'm still going to be apart of this whole thing going on finding a way to go about it. If this keeps going on, another war might actually happen and I'm not for that." (Another war... I don't want Hiyo possibly losing another parent again...)

Masamune seemed to read his mind. "...The things you do for your kid's future, huh?"

"?" Takafumi turned his head to him from the entrance of the bathroom. "What?"

Masamune held back a smirk. "Zen's going along with this for the hell of it, right? If he died in the war you say might happen, then Hiyori would be parentless and alone. You worry and care for that kid almost as much as you love him."

"D-Don't just suddenly make things up!" He spat, trying to hide his reddening face. Walking furiously out of the bathroom and into the work floor, he continued to a window facing a vast forest from the third floor and paused when Masamune followed and continued conversing with him.

"You do know he's been on to you too?"

"W-what are you talking about?"

"You really didn't notice? Isn't it obvious that he's into you and wants you to be Hiyori's mo-" he was suddenly punched away by a raging Takafumi.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, you bastard!" shouted Takafumi as Masamune let himself be punched again out the window, flying to who knows where.

* * *

Meanwhile... Back in Junta Village...

Ritsu sighed in comfort at the earthy scents in the air about in the garden behind the house, looking around he spotted his ready-to-pick blueberries and began picking some. He really liked moments like this.

So calming and warm...

(But...) he thought, (It's not the same as those dreams I get from my past...)

He moved on to a patch full of mint and lavender. (Is he sad that I'm no longer with him? Is he even still alive?) He paused for a bit. (I still can't even remember who he is, let alone see his face in my dreams... only that warm feeling...)

Chiaki comes out of the house, his hands full of clean, but still wet laundry. "...Ritsu?"

"..Oh," He was pulled out of his thoughts, "Good morning. ?" Ritsu looked at the laundry in his hands, "You're doing laundry?"

Chiaki nodded. "I never done this kind of thing a lot, and I really want to help you guys in thanks for taking me in, even if I do suck at cooking and stuff..."

"It's fine. Shinobu isn't that good at cooking as well. The clothes' pole is over there," Ritsu pointed to a few meters away from the garden.

"Okay!"

After he departed to the clothes' pole, Ritsu found himself alone with his thoughts again as he now moved on to picking the strawberries. (Misaki seems happy that he got a new 'student', but I'm really worried for the kitchen...)

(Shinobu seems more excited too... Really), Ritsu faced the house corner where the kitchen was inside, (Poor kitchen. It's a good thing I've got the kitchen covered last month...)

(Now that I think about it, I was Misaki's student too after he found me... except that I actually passed his class. Shinobu's been teaching under Misaki for what... all the years ago since he came here? That's too long...)

Ritsu didn't notice that Chiaki was done with hanging the laundry and was now watching him curiously as he had his hand mid-air holding a strawberry above his basket while he was deep in thought. (Unless, is Shinobu doing it on purpose?)

Chiaki came up and poked him. "Ritsu?"

Ritsu didn't notice. (No, it can't be on purpose...) A jab broke him out of his thoughts as he yelped and looked over at Chiaki.

"I'm sorry! You just seemed really out of it. I poked you earlier and you didn't notice."

"Oh," Ritsu finally put the strawberry in the basket, "Sorry. Did you want to ask something?"

"No. But..." he thought a bit and warily said, "Do... They told me that you didn't remember much from back then." He wondered since Misaki and Shinobu said they 'trusted' him enough to tell him about Ritsu's amnesia, does Ritsu trust him knowing?

"Umm, yeah. All I remember was my name," Ritsu looked curiously at him, "Do I seem familiar to you or something?"

"No, I don't think so...uh," he paused for a moment, "Is it okay if I know this...?"

Ritsu blinked in confusion. "Why would it not be okay?"

"Cause, Misaki and Shinobu said they trusted me enough and told me about when Misaki found you and after..."

"Trusted you enough? Haha," Ritsu laughed a bit. "What are you talking about? Almost of everyone in the village knows; How I came to be here is actually one of their '7 Wonders' of the village. My amnesia is general knowledge, but it's something not to worry about."

"Really?! Then why-"

"They probably wanted to play with you a bit."

"How is that playing?"

"I'm not sure, but they- well mostly Shinobu, did it to me a lot since I didn't know most things. Since I'm well aware of most things now, they don't bother."

"Eh..."

"If it makes you feel better, I'll tell you something no one knows."

Chiaki looked hopefully at him. "What?"

Ritsu hopped a bit in excitement, his ears adorably bobbing up and down with the movement. "When you go to the cliff side at sunrise, there's always someone singing to you!"

Chiaki paled at this. "What?"

Not noticing his negative reaction, Ritsu explained happily. "Sometimes I wake up early before the sun rises; the first time, I wandered to the cliff side because I wondered what the sun would look like rising. Then, while I waited, I heard someone singing- it was really pretty. Then I watched the sun rise and went home."

"...That's it?"

"What do you mean 'that's it?'. I never told anyone that!"

"Ritsu," Chiaki looked worried for him, "Are you sure that's all that happened?"

"Yes! I tried looking for the voice once, but I couldn't find anything."

"Do you... do you know what a siren is?"

"A siren? Of course," Ritsu then immediately understood Chiaki's reaction, "If it was I'd be a goner."

"But they like hanging out at cliff sides! Wait..." Chiaki looked at Ritsu's ears, "How far can you hear exactly...?"

Ritsu twitched his ears around. "I can hear Misaki running upstairs for something, I can hear Shinobu delivering something; I can hear birds chirping in the forest- someone is putting their bucket in their well across our position in the village and pulling up water..."

"So you can hear pretty far..."

Nodding proudly, Ritsu's right ear twitched. "When I concentrate I can hear a lot of things from afar; especially when it's quiet."

Chiaki paused at this. (From afar...?) "! That's it! There's no way you'd get killed by a siren!"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"In the morning it's quiet when you wait for the sunrise right? You probably heard Sirens singing from a point where their singing can't attract you!"

"..." Ritsu saddened and his ears lowered at this. "You... you're right..."

"? Why so sad? This means you're safe!"

"But, then that means each morning someone's probably getting killed while I just sat there happily listening from a point where I hear the sirens but not the victims."

"...Oh."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Chiaki watched as tears formed on Ritsu's eyes and panicked. "Pl-please don't cry!"

"I-I feel so.. so guilty..."

"R-Ritsu..."

"I could've saved them- I know I can't save everyone but..." sniffing, Ritsu turned to walk into the house, "Come help me prepare lunch?"

"Okay..."

* * *

"I'm back!" said Shinobu as he entered the house. Upon hearing crying, he ran into the kitchen. "What's wrong?"

However, he was not heard as Chiaki and Ritsu continued to cut carrots and eggplants casually, crying their hearts out while Misaki chopped garlic frantically, crying as well due to not being able to cheer them up and feeling horrible about it.

"I'm so-so-so sorry...!" sobbed Chiaki. "I-I neve-r-r meant..huwa ...wah.."

"N-no...wwah...I wa..." sobbed Ritsu.

"I co-wah...mmy-my f-fa-uwalt...So-sowa..." sobbed Misaki.

"It wa-wahs-wasn't y-you're fault!" sobbed Ritsu and Chiaki, themselves feeling horrible for unintentionally making him cry.

"..." (What the hell), thought Shinobu, (That's not even onions.)

* * *

**That's where I'll stop for now. Next chapter you'll see where Masamune ended up at. **

**See ya.**


	4. Reunion

**Hello... Sorry I'm a bit late on this... Anyway, here's where Masamune ended up at.**

* * *

(If I can just see you again, my will to live was worth it...) Masamune thought as he gazed up from his position on the ground. He didn't really know where he landed at... He didn't really care either...

From the smell... it was grass, dirt... carrots...

(He liked carrots. But not as much as the greens...) he sighs, (Like his eyes, a beautiful shade of light green...)

"My carrots!" Immediately, he can feel the person rush up to him; and instead of hearing the angry scolding of the owner of the land, he heard the voice of a worried saint. "...Are you okay?"

And then, the wind blew slightly, and everything comes to him all at once. His head turns, and he finds himself eye to eye with the only thing he has ever truly loved in his life.

His gentle hand touches his forehead, to his cheek, scooting some dirt away face. "Are you okay?"

(There is a God out there.) Masamune leans into the touch before passing out. "Ritsu..."

And everything became black.

* * *

(He... Who is he? He knows me...) Gently, Ritsu lifts the front part of his body up before he realized the older man was more heavier than him. Before Ritsu can lay him back down though, Masamune grabs hold of him by instinct and Ritsu ends up holding him against his chest.

(This warmth...) Ritsu begins to hug him close and stroke his ears, (It's the same one from my dreams. Are you the one?) To this, his ear twitches again and goes in front of his face. Blushing, he shakes his head clear of his long floppy rabbit ears.

"Hey, Ritsu!" he turns his head to see Shinobu run up to him.

"What's wrong?"

"Mi-" Shinobu looks at Masamune. "Who's he?"

"Oh, he-"

"Hah!" Shinobu points at his twitching ear- Ritsu didn't notice that-, "He's the one who bit that place on your ear!"

"Shi-Shinobu!"

"So you're his mate, right?"

Blushing, he strokes Masamune's head again. "Bu-But I have amnesia over-"

"Love will find a way!" Shinobu says triumphantly. "Don't worry about that! Here," he goes to lift up Masamune's legs, "Let's get him back home."

* * *

In the house...

"Whoa..." Chiaki looks him over, "Masamune has dirt all over his clothes!" Seeing the look on their faces that Chiaki knows him, meaning that he worked for Marukawa, Chiaki added more, "He doesn't care about the plans, don't worry- all he does at the meeting when we're forced to go to it is just trace patterns on the table and ignore everyone."

"Sweet. Then he'll be our powerhouse then for when we fight, hehehe..." Shinobu looks at their clueless faces, "Did you guys not check his info? Right when you brought him home he was already on our roster."

"What? When?" asks Misaki.

[MASAMUNE HAS JOINED THE PARTY!]

"Oh, there it is," Shinobu says, walking down into the text screen and poking it. "You sure to like to make an entrance."

"Shinobu get out of there!" Ritsu says in a panic, "You could break the screen and rip the text screen! Do you know how much that costs?!"

"What kind of budget are we on anyway?" asks Chiaki.

His info:

**(Lvl. 270) Masamune: **Head Editor of Shoujo Manga and a wolf-hybrid, he is strong and passionate. As a wolf hybrid, he is physically powerful and has a bit of a temper; being an Head Editor also, he throws rage and misc. office items at his opponents. His counter doubles each hit his mate receives- he also just counters in general.

* * *

(Ugh...) Masamune regained consciousness, (Where am I?) He remembers what occurred earlier and sits straight up in alert, looking around the white and green room. (Ritsu...! Don't tell that was a dream... Don't...)

"Y-You're awake!" At the wonderfully familiar voice, he looks to see his mate peeking shyly into the room. "Are you okay?"

"Ritsu," Was all he could say, all too happy.

"I'm sorry," he says sadly, his ears drooping, and Masamune immediately wanted it to make him be happy again, "For the past 10 years, I've had amnesia, so I don't really remember what happened between us..."

Masamune felt his heart sink that Takafumi was right.

"But..." he looks up at Ritsu, "Unconsciously, I always dream of being by someone, and they were really warm... Also," he walks into the room and sits at the edge of the bed. Blushing, he points to his ear, "Whenever something happens, or when I remember you unconsciously, or think of you, where you bit always twitches."

Automatically, Masamune went to touch the twitching ear with a smile on his face, but once he did so however, Ritsu blushes more and backs away. "S-Stop that..."

Then Masamune reaches for him. "Let me bite the other one."

"No-" Ritsu squirms as Masamune holds him close on his lap, nibbling happily on his hair before reaching his unmarked ear. "Wait... please..."

"Why?" Masamune mumbles.

"You don't know how much people tease me and try to play with my ears when I'm not looking. It's sort of embarrassing..."

"Cause you're irresistible..." Masamune murmurs as he lightly kisses randomly on Ritsu's head down to his collarbone. "I'll leave it alone, for now."

Ritsu laughs lightly. "Maybe I should bite your ear and make it even-mmpf" His eyes widen as Masamune suddenly kisses him hard, before resting his forehead to Ritsu's.

"Things you say like this, it gets me in the mood."

Blushing again, Ritsu shies away from him. "No... I want you to meet everyone."

"Who is this 'everyone'?" asks Masamune, his jealousy rising at the thought of not having Ritsu's mostly undivided attention.

"They're like family... Misaki was the one who found me, and then I met Shinobu; they're like little brothers. And now we have Chiaki so..." he pulls Masamune out of bed, "Come on..."

* * *

Shinobu holds his basket full of meat close to him; he was sure the wolf hybrid would enjoy it as what they mostly ate were vegetarian...

(I'm so happy Ritsu found his soulmate and that his soulmate likes meat...)

"Grrr..." On guard, Shinobu brought out his katana with one free hand and gazed around in alert.

Out from the side, he watched in suspicion as a large black wolf comes out from the shadows, scarred at the sides from a battle he didn't know of. It may need help, but it could also be tricking him for his meat...

This wolf was pretty huge though... looking into its dark eyes, this big guy can pretty much intimidate anyone to do his bidding.

(Well, not me!) Shinobu quickly sped towards home. He didn't notice the way it's eyes followed him, as if in a trance it never wanted to get out of.

* * *

**Ritsu's ears are like a Holland lop's.**

**Misaki's ears are like a Asian/Sun bear.**

**Akihiko isn't in here yet, but he's like silvertip grizzly. **

**I don't own any of Shungiku Nakamura's works, besides my OC's.**


	5. Like any other Day

**Hello... **

**I really want to write how Ritsu and Masamune met now, but I can't, cause Ritsu still has amnesia and most of the flashback revolves around Ritsu... Gah.**

**Soon. Soon. **

* * *

Masamune watched from afar as Ritsu said his greetings to the small children from the village, biding his jealousy as his mate's ears went through touches and compliments, bringing blushes to the man's face.

He wants part of that action too... It's not fair.

"Well, I'll be..." he looks to see an old woman approaching him, "We don't really see hybrids from other places come here. Are you a passerby? Or are you staying here?"

Masamune looks back to Ritsu, "Wherever he goes."

"Oh?" She looks at Ritsu, before a smile graces her face, "I suppose you're the one who got that ear twitching so cutely ever since I met him. Now that you're here, can you bite the other one so it'd match?"

"He doesn't want me to," he smirks, "For now, anyway."

She laughs, slapping his arm, "Oh, you."

"Can I ask you something?" he asks.

"What is it, my dear?"

"...What was he like, when you guys found him?" he paused, "Ever since that war 10 years ago," she looks up at him in surprise, "He never returned because of his amnesia."

"Oh, yes. That war... Because of that we never trusted people near our village, and thus we camouflaged the outside well. Then in the depths of Winter and the war ended, our little Misaki finds him out cold in the snow with no trace of where he came from. All he could remember was his name."

"I see..."

"And if any mention of the Sky comes up, the poor thing gets hurt in the head... And you know how rabbit hybrids are rather private creatures. It's almost a blessing that he arrived in this village."

Masamune smiles. "He's a blessing to me."

"Ooh, stop it!" The woman laughs. "You wolves are so loving, my heart just can't help but be happy for you!" She sighs. "When is the wedding?"

"Wedding?" He looks at her in surprise. "We can get married?"

"Of course! Everyone loves a good wedding... hohoho...When I got married..."

"Sweetheart," a elder sage who is the mayor comes towards her, "They are dancing at the southern street. We must spectate!"

Being whisked away, the woman bids goodbye and Masamune watches Ritsu again.

* * *

"Hello?" Shinobu calls out, looking at his card. (I was sure I'm too deliver this here,) thought the boy as he held this package of sausage. (But why at the edge of the forest?)

"Grr..."

Shinobu steps back as the wolf from the other day steps out. "..You..."

Then to his surprise, the wolf comes forward dropping money at his feet. "..."

Pointing at the package, Shinobu bent down to its level. "You ordered this?"

It nods.

(Well, this feels weird. Maybe it has an owner? I've seen a domestic wolf before...) Handing the package to the wolf's mouth, he uses that chance to pet the wolf's head. (So soft!)

To his surprise, the wolf drops the package and goes to lick his face, wagging its tail. Laughing, Shinobu tries to push it away and stroke his ears. Suddenly, Shinobu found himself on the ground as the wolf loomed over him, licking all over his face and neck.

"Wha..." Shinobu backs out and pushes it away. (What's with this wolf?) "Stop it... I have more deliveries." Getting up and wiping away the licks he walks away, "Enjoy the meat!"

* * *

Misaki loves picking berries. They're great in ice cream or other delicious dessert.

Jumping trees, the young man hums happily as he picks and picks with his skillful picking hands.

(Almost done.) Landing to the ground now, he walks to a lush bush full of blueberries. Before he could grab it though, he found himself tripping and tumbling into a patch of overgrowth that led deeper into the forest. "Aah!"

Landing with a thump, Misaki looked around. There were arguably more trees, but they were all skinny and close to another, the sunlight coming through in various spotted areas. "Wait..." Misaki noticed in alert his empty hands and found no basket nearby. (Where did my basket go?)

Deciding to venture searching for his basket, Misaki begins his journey in the unexplored area.

(It's really pretty,) Misaki thinks as he spins around in boredom while he walks. He couldn't smell his basket of berries though...

"What the..." Misaki looks to see a older man, another bear hybrid, come out with a book in his hand.

Backing away, Misaki goes to linger behind a tree to avoid the violet gaze. The man continues to look at him though, especially at his hands, before saying. "What a weird nymph."

"I'm a guy!" Misaki says back in annoyance, before realizing his position. "Sorry... Is this your property?"

"You can say that," the man says coolly.

"Have you seen a basket full of berries?" asks Misaki. "When I get it back I'll be on my way."

"Oh...?" He points off somewhere, "I heard something splash over there."

Following his pointed direction, Misaki gasps seeing his basket in the middle of a clear sparkling lake.

The man smiles at it. "Isn't it beau-"

"My basket!" Misaki screams in panic, (How did it get out there?!), before going to the edge of the lake. "How... How do I..."

"Have you ever heard of swimming?" says the man in a deadpan expression.

"Oh..." The man watches in surprise as Misaki begins to take off all his clothes except for his shorts underneath.

"What are you doing?"

Misaki kicks off his shoes. "I'm going to go get my basket. You said swim, right?"

...

After getting his basket, Misaki sat back at the edge, shaking excess water out of his hair. Seeing a shadow loom over him, he looks to see the man again with a towel in his hands. "I got this when you were out there."

"Oh thank you," Misaki says, accepting the towel and wondering how he went to go get it in such a short amount of time.

"What's your name?"

"Misaki. Yours?"

"...Akihiko."

Getting up, Misaki hands the towel to him, "Thank you for letting me use it," before going to put on his clothes.

"If you're not a nymph, what are you?"

"Obviously, I'm like you!" Misaki says, pointed to his twitching bear ears.

"Oh. But not as threatening-"

"Shut up!" Misaki turns to leave. "I'll be on my way now... Thank you for helping me."

"Can I have an reward?"

Turning, with a look of surprise on his face, Misaki goes back to him. (He wants a berry?) "Which one do you want?"

"The sweetest one."

"They're all sweet though..." (and tangy.)

"My nose doesn't lie. I'm smelling something sweeter than all of them right now."

"My nose doesn't lie either! I'm telling you they're all-" he pauses as Akihiko bends forward with his nose in Misaki's hair. "What are you doing?"

"It's you..."

Misaki steps back a little, blushing. "Probably because I was in the water," he puts a strawberry in the older man's hand, "Here."

He hands it back. "Oh, I don't like sweet things."

(What. The. Hell.) "Then why did you ask for one?!"

Faintly, he hears Chiaki's voice. "Misaki? ...Misaki? Ri..."

Looking up at the darkening sky, he began to walk off. (I didn't mean to be out this long...) "Thank you for helping me," he says to Akihiko.

"Will I see you again?"

"No way am I co-" In a flash, Misaki felt Akihiko's presence looming over him, and he can feel hands at his sides.

"Why don't you stay the night?"

"!" Quickly, Misaki bounded into the forest, following his earlier scent back to the place he came through.

* * *

"Stop it!" Shinobu says, looking back at the wolf. "Why are you following me?"

"Help!" Shinobu looked to the side before preparing himself as Misaki jumped out at him scared for his life. "He's catching up to me!"

"What?!" Shinobu says, before feeling the presence of the opponent.

Growling, the wolf goes in front of Shinobu protectively as Akihiko came out, his eyes looking from the wolf to Shinobu in curiosity before narrowing on Misaki.

"Who the hell are you?!" asks Shinobu.

Ignoring him, Akihiko smirks at Misaki. "I can smell you from miles away. Don't think you can escape me so easily-" he stops as a arrow barely misses him by a hair.

"Who are you?" asks Ritsu, walking towards them with a arrow ready to shoot. Masamune follows well, and recognizes him.

"What the hell is a prince doing here?" asks Masamune.

"Prince?" asks Shinobu.

"Hey, guys!" They see Chiaki run towards them. "I was looking for you guys everywhere! Someone broke their leg from dancing and I don't know what to do."

"Oh," Ritsu says in concern, putting his arrow up, "Okay, where?" Everyone ignoring Akihiko, they leave the clearing for the person with the broken leg.

(...What just happened?) thought Akihiko, finding himself alone.

* * *

Days later...

Haruhiko looks at his brother strangely as they sit at the table in the dining hall of their castle. "What are you doing?"

"Smelling this towel. What do you think I'm doing?"

After a moment of silence as Haruhiko decides to ignore the weird action his brother was doing, Akihiko asks him, "Why don't you let her out?"

"What do you mean?"

"She's bored in there when you're gone. Just let your little mermaid go back into the ocean."

"She won't know where to go."

"She will, just give her directions. How do you think she escaped the last time?"

Haruhiko frowned at him. "You...!"

"Hey, I can't help that I sympathize with her. Oh, and she told me about a dream she had- it's a new one- in that dream, she was little, and she was playing with some rabbit hybrid boy and a avian hybrid girl. And then sometimes it became separate."

"What do you mean?"

"In one dream, she's picking flowers with the avian girl, and in the next she's climbing trees and going in the water getting stuff for the rabbit boy."

"I see..." Haruhiko looks up to see Akihiko leaving. "Where are you going?"

"Smelling this isn't enough for me."

"Is this like a side effect that witch put on you a few days ago when you asked her who your soulmate was?"

"No, it's not."

"But you did end up seeing the red threads right?"

"Don't remind me," Akihiko says, rubbing the towel against his cheek and sighing at the smell.

"I'm guessing that Takahiro guy wasn't the one?"

"Yes..." Akihiko held the towel now and looks at it, debating whether to smell it all over again or go to his bathroom and stuff it in his pants.

Haruhiko looks out the window. "It's going to rain soon, isn't that refreshing?"

"How?"

"It washes all the scents out side away and it smells new... If it does I'll take her outside again- I know how much she loves rain."

"Washes away the scents..." Akihiko turns to leave. "I'm going off somewhere, don't expect me back in a few days."

"Where are you going?"

Akihiko continues on his way. "I'm going to get my refill!"

* * *

**I don't own any of Shungiku Nakamura's works, besides my OC's.**


	6. At the sky

**I don't own any of Shungiku Nakamura's works, besides my OC's.**

**Oh, and Happy Birthday to Misaki! **

* * *

_Little feet patter as they run into the shallow stream. Long ears twitch as a sound is heard further down at the deeper end leading into the ocean._

_Wide green eyes look at the direction and looks up into the eyes of his creator, the latter watching calmly and affectionately as his 'child' plays in the water as they wait. "Master, is that them?"_

_"Hmm...?" The long blond haired man looks in the direction lazily before beckoning the small boy to him. Once situated on his lap, dark green eyes close as he leans his head on his little one. "It'll be a little while more. I can't believe I didn't hear that with my ears." _

_"Really?"_

_He nods as he continues to lean his head while he sighs, "She would have loved to meet you."_

_"Oh..." The boy says quietly, saddened that his master was without his loved one. He also wanted to meet her. "It'll be okay."_

_"No, no it won't. It'll never be okay. But like this, I have to keep living as I'm allowed, until I can meet her again," he looks up at the sky._

_Floppy ears went down in sadness. "So Master will never be happy?"_

_"No, I'm happy right now, even if it's for one fleeting moment. I wonder, why must we find others to love?"_

_..._

"A dream?" mumbles Ritsu as he wakes up. (I was a little child...)

Arms wrap him securely. "What's wrong?" asks Masamune, hugging him close.

"Nothing... Just a dream."

"About what?"

"I was a little boy, and I was playing in the water with Master."

"Master huh? You did say..."

"Oh," Ritsu looks up at him, "I said something about him to you long time ago?"

"You didn't say a lot, just mostly that you trained under him and that you've always been with him since you were born."

"What does he look like?" Ritsu asks, making sure it matched the appearance in his dreams.

"I don't know. You were on your own on some solo training, and I don't know about after because you never came back."

"Oh..." Ritsu settles his head on Masamune's chest. "I'm sorry. I must have worried you."

"I worried, I assure you. I got angry... upset... then," Masamune runs a hand through Ritsu's hair. "After that I just felt..."

"...Felt what?"

"I just really didn't care about anything..."

"What...?" Ritsu looks up at him worriedly. "You did eat everyday, right? Or drink?"

"Well, most days...But now," Masamune slowly runs a finger across Ritsu's parted lips, "There's something I want to eat right now."

* * *

_"Ah..."_

_"...Ah.. wa-wait..."_

"Hmm?" Misaki sat up as he rubs his eyes. (What was that?) Walking out of his room quietly he strains his ears for the source of the sound. He didn't even take a step further across the hallway though before he heard soft voices down in Ritsu's room.

"I want you..." Misaki hears Masamune say huskily, before he hears quiet smacking noises.

"Bu-but...Ah... They're sleeping..." he hears Ritsu whisper. "Ah...ha..."

Still sleepy, Misaki cocked his head in confusion until he heard the sound of a bed creak.

(What are they doing-) Widening his eyes the innocent teenager looks around the place in a panic before going back to his room to get his staff. Rushing back into the hallway he mentally casts a sound barrier around their room before sighing in relief and going back to sleep.

...

Yawning, Misaki stretches as he wakes, getting out of bed and walking dazedly out of the room. Remembering last night he turns his head to Ritsu's room before hesitantly peeking in. His eyes rounded on the clothes on the floor to Ritsu and Masamune sleeping soundly (since he entered the sound barrier) under the sheets.

Stepping back and going back to his room to get his staff he hears a boom and runs downstairs to see that Chiaki tried to fry bread but put in too much oil.

(Why would you even fry bread in the morning?!) thought Misaki before deciding to spare Ritsu minor shock at the damaged kitchen and kept the barrier around their room until at least noon.

* * *

"Thank you!" says one of the little girls as Misaki heals the scar from tripping.

Looking up at the sky, he wondered if Ritsu and Masamune were up yet.

"Hey!" He looks to see Shinobu come up to him with the wolf following, "Takahiro sent you a letter!"

"Really? Why?" Misaki asks, wondering what his brother would want seeing as they both had their separate lives to live in faraway places.

"Well, if me and my older sister were close she'd send me- nevermind. Do you think since you're older he's going to tell you that you're adopted?"

"Would it matter? I already know," Misaki says, opening the letter.

"But he doesn't know that you know."

"He finally got married to his girlfriend," says Misaki reading the letter, "And then he says some details about the wedding... more wedding stuff, his best friend Prince Akihiko... and then he gushes about children and the sparkling of the snow near the mountain where they're near."

"Man, we missed a wedding? I wanted cake..." Shinobu then brightens, "We need Ritsu to have a wedding!"

Misaki looks at him in disbelief. "For the sake of cake?"

"Not just cake, Misaki. You now there's more than that... but I really do want wedding cake. It's just so special to eat and-" Shinobu pauses before looking at the letter. "Wait, his best friend's a prince?"

"Um yeah," Misaki reads the letter again, before feeling the envelope and pulling out a picture. "See, here..."

"..."

Shinobu looks at Misaki. "Do you think that-"

"Yeah-"

"And that-"

"Yeah..."

"Do you think he-"

"I don't know."

"What should we do?"

"..." After a moment of silence, they run in the direction of home.

* * *

"Ritsu..." Masamune mumbles as he automatically reaches out in his sleeping position. Finding nothing though in a matter of seconds the man snaps his eyes open in a panic, jumping out of bed. "Ritsu?!"

Running to window he widens his eyes as he sees Ritsu out sitting calmly in the grass, looking at the sky as if it were calling him.

Just like last time.

Quickly, Masamune puts on some clothes and slams open the window. Surprised, Ritsu looks to see him jumping out and running to him. "What's wrong?" he asks as Masamune sits and pulls him to his lap, hugging him.

"Why were you looking at the sky?"

"I don't really know exactly. I just..." Ritsu looks up again, "Did I ever do this back then?"

Masamune hugs him tighter. "You did it everytime before you wandered off somewhere- it scared the hell out of me."

"Really? I don't do that now... Although, that's probably because I dont remember where to wander off to..." he trails off as golden armored soldiers come out of the forest. "What...?" Standing up and walking over there while Masamune follows. "Who are you guys?!"

The head soldier, they assumed, comes forward. "We have come for Misaki, sir."

"Excuse me?!" says Ritsu, wondering what on earth Misaki could have done, "Why Misaki?"

"Prince Akihiko was forced to attend to something, so we have come on his behalf, sir. He requests Misaki's presence-"

What, sir?" says a soldier in the back, "I thought we were told to kidnap him so they can get hitched, sir! And have their lovey-dovey time, sir!"

(What?!) thought Ritsu, (That man from the other day?!)

"Shut up! Did you not hear the plan? We have to play forma-!" He dodges an arrow, "What the?!"

They look to see Ritsu pointing an arrow at them as his eyes glint dangerously, and the wolf hybrid behind him having mysteriously gone off somewhere.

* * *

Chiaki woke up at hearing shouts from his peaceful nap on the couch. (Is something happening?)

Opening the door to the back, he looks up in surprise to see a bunch of soldiers knocked out on the ground, and Ritsu linking their hands together with rope as calmly as a person knitting a scarf for leisure. "What happened?!"

"They wanted to take Misaki," Ritsu says, pulling the last knot on the lead soldier.

"What? Why?"

"They wanted to kidnap Misaki."

"Whoa, really?" Chiaki looks at the men to Ritsu, "Did you beat them up by yourself?"

"They're all level 50..." Ritsu sighs, yanking the knot to ensure tightness. "And no special moves- piece of cake."

"What are you going to do to them now?"

"Send them back with a message."

"Oh..." Chiaki looks around, "Wait. Where is everyone?"

"I asked Masamune to go find them and bring them home."

"Okay..." Chiaki goes near Ritsu with a marker. "Can I draw on their faces?"

"No, that's rude."

* * *

"I have a question..." Masamune asks as he walks home with the boys. And the wolf but it just strayed near Shinobu.

"What is it?" asks Misaki.

"How close are you guys with Ritsu, exactly?"

"That..." Misaki and Shinobu share a look, "Well... We've known him since we were kids and living with the mayor until they fixed the house we're living in now for us..."

"Like a big brother...?" says Shinobu, "Sometimes though... he acts like a mother hen..."

"Our families weren't around either when we were kids," points out Misaki, "So yeah... like a parent..."

...

"What the...?" Masamune mutters, his eye twitching in annoyance as he watched the tied up soldiers follow Ritsu around like an idol.

"Welcome home guys," says Ritsu, with Chiaki waving from under a tree as he sketches.

"So they're the ones..." says Misaki, eyeing them warily.

"Don't worry about them, Misaki," says Ritsu, looking happy with himself as he walks to them with the soldiers following.

"Yeah, sir," says a soldier, "Don't you worry, sir! Prince Akihiko will see through our lies, but we'll tell them we couldn't find you, sir!"

"But, he'll see that you guys are obviously tied up..." says Misaki.

"No matter!" says the head soldier. "Such is the punishment for setting foot on Sir Ritsu's property!"

"Eh..." Misaki says, at a loss.

"Please forgive Prince Akihiko though sir," says a soldier, "He can't help that he has fallen in love, sir."

"What?" Misaki looks at them, "I-in...what? Wait! I'm his best friend's brother... so he can't."

"Misaki, that..." Ritsu gives him a knowing look, "I don't think that would matter to him." Shinobu nods in agreement.

"S-still! Please," he says to the soldiers, "Tell him to stay away from me for now on."

"No can do, sir!" says a soldier, "Nothing stops Prince Akihiko, sir! He will always carry your towel, sir!"

"E-excuse me?"

"A towel with your scent," explains the head soldier, "That is how we came here. We were ordered to obtain you before it rains."

"Since we can't though, sir," says a soldier, walking up to Misaki and bringing out a clean white towel, "Please rub yourself with this."

"..." Shinobu holds himself back from laughter at the question as he watches Misaki's reaction.

Quietly seething in anger and embarrassment at having been asked that question, Misaki pushes the towel back with a blush. "No way in hell."

"Please, sir! Or Prince Akihiko will rage and come here himself, sir!"

"H-he will?" asks Misaki.

"Yes, sir! He holds that towel to him like a security blanket, sir! If he goes without your scent sir..." the soldier shudders.

"But we only met each other one time!"

"That doesn't matter, sir! He even went as far as to research about you and gain information-"

"Not to menton candid pictures, sir!" interrupts another solder.

"What?! Pictures?!"

"The Usami Ninjas are not to be underestimated, sir! Actually, you were so cute one of the ninjas created a fan club on Prince Akihiko's behalf, sir!"

"..." (I'm scared,) thought Misaki. (This guy sounds serious...)

"Then we should go see him," says Shinobu.

"W-what? Why?!" asks Misaki.

"To stop all this! And I heard earlier there was a guy from Marukawa starting fires, so might as well go kill two birds with one stone."

"Don't worry, Misaki," says Ritsu, "We won't let him take you-"

"Unless you end up falling for him," finishes Shinobu. "I mean come on, he's a prince."

Misaki wanted to crawl into a corner. (This doesn't sound like a good idea at all...)

* * *

**lol, again, Happy Birthday Misaki.**


	7. Don't just stare

**I'm sorry, my updates are late.**

**Don't you just love that adorable funny stuff in the background when there is a confrontation going on? XD**

**I don't own any of Nakamura Shungiku's works. **

* * *

[Today is a new day, and everybody is ready to depart to the Usami Kingdom!]

"Well, look at that," comments Shinobu as he looks down on the text screen, "Someone's too excited."

"Maybe something's going to happen?" wonders Chiaki out loud.

Everyone is walking in the forest now heading towards the Usami Kingdom, soldier captives in a tow. Before they can even get through a good 5 miles though Akihiko comes out of nowhere.

"! What are you doing here?!" exclaims Misaki, already hiding behind Ritsu.

"Yeah!" says Shinobu, "We're supposed to have at least 2-5 battles before we get to you!"

"He's right, Prince Akihiko, sir!" says one of the soldiers, "You're disrupting the flow!"

"Ohoho..." Akihiko smirks, going into battle position. "Am I?" he challenged, and everybody goes into battle mode.

And obviously Akihiko receives forest monsters as his NPC aides so technically isn't ganged up upon. Also, since the soldiers are captives they don't fight.

* * *

Somewhere else...

"Dammit!" Shouta mutters in a fluster as he was surrounded by soldiers from the Shining Snow Kingdom. "I didn't mean to get this close to the other border... and I can't just attack them, I'm just supposed to lure in-"

"Why are you starting fires?!" demands a voice, and he looks up.

(The hell?!) Shouta staggers back, blushing very hard, (This guy is handsome... Extremely handsome!)

"Starting fires is horrible," continues the young, handsome head soldier, "Are you following someone's orders?!"

"..." (What should I do?) he glances around, (He has me surrounded...) The head soldier notes how adorably Shouta's feline ears press back.

"As long as you don't do it we'll leave you with a warning."

Shouta doesn't hear him though, and mumbles to himself as he brings his hands together.

(Is he doing a spell?!) wonders the head knight, getting ready to go into battle position as Shouta unleashes...

A fire butterly into the air.

"?" Everybody looks up at the sky. "..." And then they look down.

"He's gone!" says a soldier.

"Everyone scatter!" commands the head knight.

"Okay, Sir Kou!"

...

"I hate this!" complains Shouta as he flees far to a mountainous area over a forest. (He was so handsome! And now I'm some troublemaker in his eyes!)

He moves to the edge over the forest next to some rocks. (It's not like he'd be interested in a shrimp like me, I'm probably older than him...)

"Gah, so frustrating!" he vents out, kicking the rocks at random places over and into the forest.

* * *

"He's pretty strong," mutters Shinobu, stroking the wolf's fur before staring in surprise at the wolf itself. (Where was he since this morning?) he wonders. While the monsters retreated, Akihiko is left standing, his eyes trained on Misaki.

"Please stop this!" asks Misaki, "We don't even know each other like that!"

"That's why I want you to come with me, Misaki. So we can get to know each other better before and after our wedding."

"Oh, no way!" opposes Shinobu, "We all agreed that Ritsu's getting hitched first!"

"W-what?!" stutters Ritsu, blushing as he glances at Masamune. "When w-was that-"

"And then I'm getting married!" jumps in Chiaki, "The older ones get married first!"

"Is that so...?" Akihiko dully replies, while in the background Ritsu has his floppy ears and hands in front of his face as he hides in embarrassment, with Masamune annoying watching on as the soldiers crowd around Ritsu to congratulate him.

"Yeah, and," Shinobu hugs Misaki close to him, "We're having our wedding together!"

"Two wedding cakes?" says Misaki in awe.

"Yeah, two wedding cakes!" And suddenly they look off as they think about the flavors they want on their cake. Meanwhile, the soldiers are angrily glared and tossed aside as Masamune goes to hold Ritsu to himself.

Seeing that he was tossed aside a soldier directs his voice at Akihiko. "You're Highness, sir, this is not the way to get someone to fall in love for you!"

"Yeah, sir!" says another soldier, "Just because you found out about him right after you got heartbroken isn't the way to do this!"

"Guys, you're making this sound like Misaki's a rebound..." mutters Shinobu.

"He's right though..." Misaki says, before looking up at Akihiko. "U-um, Aki-your Highness, even if you say we were meant to be together, we can't. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to listen to them," says Akihiko, his gaze becoming intense. "I love you."

He blushes. "T-that..."

"St-stop..." Ritsu manages to get out as Masamune hugs him embarrassingly close, and he's sure he felt a hand wandering down his back, "M-masamune..." then, catching something on the side of his eye, he looks off near the mountains.

"Everyone find cover!" Ritsu shouts around, "Someone's kicking rocks out around us and some of them are huge-" Masamune quickly carries him away as a huge rock slams near them.

"Well, someone's angry," comments Masamune, his voice dangerous as he narrows his eyes up at the mountain to see if he can find the culprit. As everyone hides and after making sure Ritsu was behind a good tree he runs off towards the mountain.

Meanwhile, Akihiko was confused. Instinctively in his mind, he looks around for Misaki, and finding everyone going to hide he wondered why the mages didn't put up a shield. (Is it because our battle wore them out?) wonders Akihiko, who just stands in the middle of the clearing in thought.

He didn't see the light apple sized hard-mud ball hurtling at him until he turned around and watched on in confusion. "?"

* * *

"Are you alright, your Highness?!" Misaki shouts, running out to get him. "Akihiko?!"

Upon seeing hearing a huge thud coming from the mountain Ritsu looks out curiously before walking out and going towards a fallen Akihiko along with everyone else seeing that the pelting rocks has stopped.

"Good thing that's mud," Shinobu says, picking up the chunks and turning them into dust with his fingers.

"He's knocked out..." Misaki looks up to Ritsu, "Should we carry him?"

"Ooh, ooh!" one of the soldiers waves his hands childishly. "There's a small lake around here, can we just camp out?"

"Pretty please?" asks one of the soldiers as they tug on Ritsu's robes.

"U-uh... okay..." Ritsu watches as the soldiers cheer and look around wildly for a place to set camp. (It's like I'm some kind of elementary teacher or something...)

"Let go!" He looks to see Masamune bounding towards them dragging someone in a red cloak.

"Wahh..." Chiaki smiles, walking towards the new arrival, "Shouta!"

"Chiaki?" Shouta beams adorably, "How are you?!" He sees Ritsu before smiling mischievously and going in close to examine, "So you're the cutie Masamune's all for that Takafumi told me about..." Ritsu blushes "I can totally see you in-" Masamune bonks him in the head in annoyance.

"Shut up!" yells Masamune in agitation, before he put an arm around Ritsu, turning him around and following the soldiers to the lake.

"Well, he's all happy now, isn't he?" mumbles Shouta, noting the changes, before catching up with Chiaki.

As Misaki cleans Akihiko's hair out of mud chunks, Shinobu wanders deeper into the forest. "Hey," he calls out to the wolf, "Where are you?" (I so should have named him...)

* * *

Later that night...

(Ugghh...) Akihiko turns his head, trying to open his eyes, (What happened?) he opens his eyes to see the starry sky and the moon. (Night time? That's right...)

(Father wanted me to go visit that matchmaker before I head to that ball but I escaped and-) he sits up, looking around. (Where did the horse go?)

He pauses as he stares at the lake. (This isn't our lake. How far did I run exactly?)

"You're awake!" He turns to the voice. (Who is this?) He stays in place as Misaki goes to sit down next to him and feeling around his head. "Are you okay? It hit you straight on the head and I thought..." he sighs.

(So I got hit in the head? I don't remember running into a branch...) He pauses in thought as Misaki brings out a wet towel and goes through his head and ears, closing his eyes at the sensation. (Feels good...)

He couldn't help but frown as Misaki stops.

"It's too late to wash now, so this'll do." He holds out some cooked meat, "Masamune cooked some meat and you don't like sweet things that much like the fruit, so here..."

"..." He takes the meat, eating as he thinks some more as he watches Misaki put up the towel. (Who is he? How does he know I don't like sweet things?)

"Geez," Misaki looks at Akihiko in adorable frustration. "28 years old and you just stood there like an idiot! Why didn't you move?"

"...28?"

Misaki blinks before nodding. "You're 28, right? That's what the soldiers told me..."

"No..." Akihiko frowns. "I'm 18."

"..."

"..."

"..." Misaki looks out, worriedly glancing around. (Everyone's sleeping about now. What do I do?)

"Who are you?" asks Akihiko.

"Ah, I'm Misaki..." He brings up a hand to Akihiko's forehead. "I didn't know it hit you that far..."

"What happened to me?" he asks.

"We were pelted by rocks and a mud ball hit you. You have amnesia right now. Does your head hurt or anything? Some of your soldiers is around, so I can-"

"It's fine." (I don't want to go home yet)

"Is there anything I can do?" Misaki asks, "Everyone's sleeping now, and I'll be next to you if you need anything."

"Anything?" he looks to the towel on Misaki's lap. "Can you do that again?"

"Huh?" Misaki follows his gaze to the towel. "Oh, but," with the moon's light, Akihiko can barely see some dirt on it, "Do you want me to wet it again or-"

"No, just put it through my head again like you did earlier."

"Okay."

Akihiko sighs after a few seconds as he relaxes. He felt his ears lightly tingle as he felt Misaki's thumb accidently touch it.

Sitting up, he moves the hand behind his head and tilts forward. "Go back here too."

"Okay." (Does it really feel that nice?) wonders Misaki.

After some more 30 seconds, Akihiko finds himself examining Misaki. "How old are you?"

"18."

"You're my age?"

"No, you're 28 now, try to remember."

"Damn, I'm old."

"Ha, as if!" he looks at Misaki curiously. "The soldiers tell me you still have teddy bears and other toys in your room."

"Oh, and you don't?"

Silent, Misaki blushes, continuing to go through Akihiko's hair, "One teddy bear from my brother," he mutters, "But still," he says to Akihiko, "You're a child inside, kind of."

"..." Akihiko chuckles.

"What?"

Akihiko continues to watch him from the side of his eyes. "You're pretty cute."

Blushing, Misaki goes through his hair a little bit harder, mostly likely to intend pain, but Akihiko smirked as he didn't feel any pain. "Really cute."

"I'm a boy!" Misaki says, rubbing harder, but it didn't inflict any pain whatsoever to Akihiko. "You don't call a boy cute."

"What's your name?"

"Oh..." Misaki pauses for a moment. "Misaki."

"Misaki," Akihiko smiles to himself, "What a cute name for a cute boy." (It is somewhat ringing a bell somewhere...)

"Sh-shut up!" Misaki takes the towel away and lies down, turned away from him. "I'm going to go to sleep! Good night!"

Lying back down himself, Akihiko suddenly felt awake and bored. "I can't sleep."

"W-well, you were sleeping for a while now- just try to sleep again. Close your eyes."

"How do you know me?"

"...I ...I'm Takahiro's little brother."

(He had a little brother? Well I did just meet Takahiro recently, so I wouldn't know that yet.) "What's Takahiro doing nowadays?"

"...He's married and has a little son. I haven't seen him in a long time so..."

"I see..." (Takahiro did say he wanted to get married and have a family...)

"Do you feel okay?" Misaki asks.

"? I feel fine. Why?"

"A-ah, nothing..." Misaki sighs. "Good night."

* * *

(Where did he go?) wonders Shinobu, staring out into the forest. (Did he go off and mate or something?)

Then as if he called it, said wolf trots out of the forest towards him.

"Where did you go, buddy?" he whispers, stroking the furry body as it laid next to him. Slowly, he fell asleep, and missed it as the wolf transforms.

Hugging the smaller form and kissing the top of his head, the dark haired man looks out silently to the lake before staring up at the moon, almost ready to get into its full phase.

* * *

**Woo, I didn't expect to write this far...**

**Shouta didn't officially join the group yet.**

**What do you think?**


End file.
